Constant force spring electrical connection adapter assemblies are known. Such assemblies typically comprise a hollow bored cable terminating adapter shell comprising a body portion having forward and rearward ends, the forward end of the body portion being adapted for removable attachment to an electrical component housing or to an electric junction box, and the rearward end of the body portion being adapted for removable attachment to a protective cable sheathing. The forward adaptation typically comprises a helically threaded rotatable coupling nut or an outwardly extending mounting flange having mounting screw receiving apertures. The rearward adaptation of such hollow bored adapter typically comprises a cylindrical nipple having a circular cross sectional shape and having an outwardly opening constant force spring receiving channel.
In use of such constant force spring adapter, the nipple is nestingly extended into the forward opening of a flexible cable sheathing so that the sheathing overlies the nipple's outwardly opening channel. Thereafter, a constant force spring (also known as a negator or Hunter spring) is spirally wrapped about the nipple and about the sheathing to flexibly compress the sheathing radially inward into the outwardly opening channel. The inward compression securely annularly attaches the sheathing to the nipple. A drawback or deficiency of such constant force spring adapter and sheathing assemblies is that the cross sectional shape of the nipple is restricted to circular. Where the nipple has, for example, a non-circular oval shape, a circular constant force spring wrapped thereabout will undesirably drive the sheathing into the outwardly opening channel only at a pair of contact points, resulting in an insecure sheath attachment.
Shrink ring adapter assemblies are configured similarly with constant force spring adapter assemblies, as described above. As in constant force spring adapters, the forward end of the body portion of a shrink-ring adapter comprises a coupling nut or mounting flange, and the rearward end comprises a nipple having an outwardly opening shrink-ring receiving channel. A drawback or deficiency of shrink-ring adapter assemblies relates to the dimensions of structures of the assembly which are positioned rearward of the outwardly opening shrink-ring receiving channel. Such structures typically comprise an annular ridge bordering the rearward end of the channel, and a flexible sheathing annularly overlying such ridge. In order to assemble such shrink-ring adapter, a shrink-ring must initially overlie and be slidably moveable longitudinally over the outside diameters of such rearward structures. Accordingly, the inside diameter of the shrink-ring must initially be sufficiently large to allow such slidable movement. Accordingly, a large percentage of ring shrinkage needed for such shrink-ring to effectively compress a flexible sheath into the outwardly opening channel undesirably accommodates varying outside diameters of such rearward structures. Shrinkage needed for effective sheath compression and attachment does not commence until after occurrence of shrinkage needed to accommodate obstacles to proper ring positioning. Where a circular shrink-ring is utilized for attaching a sheathing to an adapter having a non-circular nipple, such drawbacks and deficiencies are aggravated, requiring initial shrinkage to accommodate both the geometries of ridge and sheath structures and the non-circular nipple shape.
The instant inventive electrical connector assembly overcomes the drawbacks and deficiencies of both the above described constant force spring adapter assembly and shrink-ring adapter assembly by utilizing a thermoplastic strap having and being capable of plastic memory. Such strap effectively replaces the constant force spring, and the heat shrink-ring, providing mechanical benefits and advantages of both while avoiding drawbacks and deficiencies of both.